Posts tagged ‘137’

Journalists often talk about how people hate them so much; they usually rate themselves just above politicians and estate agents on the ‘hatred scale’. Other honourable mentions on said scale include bankers, traffic wardens and wheel-clamping companies (in my humble opinion).

Why do people hate journalists so much? I think it’s because they only seem to care about themselves and think nothing of ruining people’s lives. Take today’s story of Wayne Rooney in the News Of The World. They have published allegations that he slept with a call girl while his wife was pregnant.

I find it odd that they have decided to publish this story ahead of England’s Euro 2012 qualifying match against Switzerland. If he plays badly, they will say his mind wasn’t focused on the game. It’s fair to say that the journalists who wrote this story don’t care if it affects England’s chances of qualifying for the tournament.

This reminds me of what another newspaper, The Mail on Sunday did to Lord Triesman. He was once the chairman of the Football Association and the head of England’s bid to host the World Cup in 2018. The Mail on Sunday secretly recorded him claiming that Spanish and Russian officials were planning to bribe referees at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

This is an actual quote from The Mail on Sunday‘s sister paper, The Daily Mail: “England had been one of the favourites to host the tournament in eight years’ time. But Lord Triesman’s astonishing comments threaten to fatally hole the country’s chances of success and led some critics to dub him World Cup Wally.” Click here to read the full article.

I cannot believe that the newspapers who set him up were cheeky enough to blame him for ruining England’s chances! They were obviously more interested in creating a pointless story out of nothing than seeing England win the bid. Many people were angry at The Mail on Sunday had done, and Gary Lineker, a former footballer and fellow 2018 Ambassador announced he was going to stop writing articles for them.

I know that the majority of journalists are decent, hardworking people who sometimes put their lives on the line in pursuit of the truth. The International Federation of Journalists reported that a total of 137 journalists were killed in 2009! It is such a dangerous profession, and I definitely admire them for their courage.

Tabloid journalists are ruining the reputations of other journalists but they don’t seem to care. They enjoy being in the limelight, and will be around as long as people want to read about the private lives of others. In other words, we will always have these types of stories in newspapers, irrespective of whether they help or harm the country in the long run.